Mrs Doris Toh, President, SAPES

Singapore Association of Personal and Executive Secretaries

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening. I am happy to be here with you to celebrate the Professional Secretaries Week. The profession of secretary started in ancient times. They were then known as scribes. Roman Caesars had scribes or secretaries during their reigns. And the importance of secretaries has not diminished over the years. On the contrary, they are even more valuable in the new economy.

Secretaries today perform a variety of roles that support managers. The secretary today is the note-taker, appointment keeper, bookkeeper, office manager, librarian, IT specialist all in one. Occasionally, she can also be the banquet manager. To other staff, she is sometimes known as the ‘weatherman’: ‘Boss is in foul mood today’. Or, the ‘security guard’: "I’m sorry, boss is not available".

The pace of change is accelerating, and economic cycles are shortening. Globalisation and rapid advances in technology are providing new opportunities as well as challenges.

The first challenge is the rapid development in Information Technology and computerisation. With the easy-to-use keyboard, professionals and managers are doing much of their own correspondence using their personal computers. They no longer delegate simple typing to their secretaries.

Secretaries now are expected to value-add by using the computer. Many have to use personal computers to create spreadsheets for data collation and analysis. They need computer skills to prepare documents and manage databases. They need to produce glossy reports using desktop publishing. And employ digital graphics to create presentation slides.

Second, organisations are moving towards a flatter and less hierarchical structure. This has required secretaries to take on some of the responsibilities of managers. Some of the new responsibilities include providing training and orientation for new staff, and conducting information search on the Internet. Secretaries have to also operate and troubleshoot new office technologies.

Third is the change in organisational culture and work practices. There is a shift from the personal secretary who works for only one boss to the team secretary. Many now provide support for a group of people. This requires them to work with managers who have different leadership styles.

These challenges require secretaries to perform new roles. In the past, the main role of secretaries was that of support staff. They were essentially gatekeeping information and providing administrative back up. Today, secretaries need to take on two new roles.

The first role is that of a team worker. They are required to act as a key link between group members of an organisation. Secretaries are expected to work with staff in other departments and units.

The second role is that of an independent professional worker. They have to develop their own areas of work and responsibilities. For instance, some secretaries need to do their own research work. In many organisations, secretaries are regarded as expert IT-users.

In face of these changes, learning new skills continuously is critical to the success of a secretary. As office automation continues to evolve, continuing education and training becomes an integral part of secretarial jobs. Changes in the office environment require secretaries to be adaptable and more versatile.

Secretaries today need to be IT savvy. They need to be up-to-date in using a range of computer software, office equipment and relevant technologies. As team players, they also need to have a good understanding of group dynamics and be able to manage conflicts and negotiate.

To better prepare secretaries for the new economy, I am pleased to announce that SPRING Singapore will be working with SAPES to map out the core skills required by secretaries and establish skills standards. This will provide secretaries in industry with a roadmap for enhancing their skills, sustaining competitiveness of their organisations, and remaining employable.

On this note, I would like to commend SAPES for its leadership in professionalising the work of secretaries. My congratulations to the winner of this year’s Professional Secretary Award. I wish all of you every success and more exciting tomorrows.